Pneumatic-tire armor.



S. G. SIIJIITII.

PNEUMATIG TIRE ARMOR. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I9. T917.

Pmimtl Jau. I5, 1918.

V'I/ITI'IIESSES lill aa'irrson enanviunn entran, or rnanvrmnn, naar aannam rainurrnvrrermn animen.

aannam,

spccitcatton of Letters l'atent. l

Patented Tano i559 .application met september "it, fait. derlei tto. intatte.

To all whom may concern;

Be it hnown that )i9 Sainrson Gnanvnunn Simuler, a citiaen of the United States, anda resident of Plainfield9 in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and improved Pneumatic-'fire Armor, of which the following is a full clear9 and exact description.

rlfhis invention relates to armors or protecting devices for neumatic tires or the like and has particu ar reference to armors designed to be easil applied to the tread portions of wheels for emergency purposes or t be worn permanently thereon if so desire llrnong the special obj ects of the invention is-to provide a tire armor, the tread or main portion of which is composed of a main body or strip `of material to which are secured a series or plurality of peculiarly shaped reinforcement or wear elements adjacent elements being spaced somewhat rom each other, and exible metal devices extending transversely of the armor and diagfonally betweenthe several wear elements as will bemore fully set forth below: Y A further object of the inventionis to provide a pneumatic tire armor having a substantially imperforate tread portion and on each side being provided with a Aseries of spaced straps or tabs of dexible nature adapted to extend inwardly toward the axis of the wheel along the sides of the tirea dexible stays being provided and extending across the tread and radially of the wheel along said straps or tabs to which they are tid connected..

p With the foregoing and other objects in' view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designatethe same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of a wheel havin@ my .improvement in operative position t'lbiereon..

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a armor laid out Hat.

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

portion of the Fig., l is a similar view on the line 5 is a sectional detail on the line t'i- 5 of lig. i; and

lig. @is a detail view'of a modification of means for securing the anchor clip directly to the tab.,

Referring now more particularly to the l drawings ll show a conventional form of wheel comprising .a felly l0, spohes ll, rim l2 and pneumatic or similar tire f3, its to the special construction of the wheel or any of its parts as above referred to l am not particularly concerned, except to observe that my improvement is adapted to be employed in connection with any ordinary or conventional wheel construction.

ln general my improvement may be described as comprisin two main parts or features, namely, a bang portion and transverse stay means. 'llhe band is composed of a `tread portion or body 16 of a width suitable to fairly cover or protect the tread portion of the tire, such width being uniform throughout the full circumference of the armor except as to the strap ortab features l? arrangedin series onopposite sides ofthe 'llhe tabs i7 are preferably formed integral `with and constitute extensions of said body 16 or may be secured thereto in any other suitable manner. The tabs obviously are of exible material and of sucient strength for the several purposes below enumerated.

rfhe stay means is composed of an assemblage of flexible metal ,elements such as a substantial type of chain material arranged in a peculiar manner and adapted to extend across the wearing `surface of the band portion, and the stay means serving at least titl dfi

llllll two important functions, one of which is to constitute the means for holdingI the band in place on the tire whereby it is held positively from either radial or lateral movement, and another important function of the tread means is to constitute a direct wear resisting medium as well as a strengthening Vor reinforcing means to prevent rupture of tial seriesl of projections,l plates or the like indicated at 18, preferably all of the same size and character and each in the form of a triangle in lan view. Each plate 18 may be of any suitable material such as leather or any kind of tough, flexible material, or even in some cases of metal, or its equivalent. Furthermore each plate device may be built up of several plies, if desired, but in any event is adapted to be secured in fixed position to the outer or tread surface of thebody 16 by means of a plurality of rivets 19 or 'the like passing through the plates and body and formed with heads or projections 20 on their outer ends. l indicate and preferably employ six of these rivets for each plate and with the heads 20 of relatively large size may constitute direct non-skid or traction features and sustain a large portion of the road wear to which the machine is subjected. As noted in Fig. 2 especially, each two adjacent plates 18 are arranged with their apexes extending in opposite directions transversely of the wheel and with a space 21 observed between them. The plates being of a substantial thickness the depth of the space 21 is accordingly appreciable.

Reverting again to the transverse stay -the device is connected extend directly around the 'side portions of the tire in planes intersecting in the axis of the wheel. Each chain 22 furthermore lies against the outer surface of a tab 17 and is preferably perma- 4nently connected thereto by any suitable means. With the tabs made of leather or the like I preferably slit the same as indicated at 25, each tab having two parallel slits extending circumferentiall wheel forming a keeper 26 wit its ends integral with the main portion of the tab. The slits are long enough to permit the passage between the kee er 26 and the main portion of the tab" o the chainl 22. The tabs 17 on one side of the device are preferably staggered or oset with respect to the series of tabs on the other side of the device and hence since each tab carries a chain 22 it followsthat the chains 22 on opposite of the sidesvare likewise staggered. Each chain 23 is connected at one end to the outermost vlink of a chain 22 and at its other end to the. outermost link of the next adjacent chain 22` on the opposite side of the armor.

The plates 18 are so designed and arranged, l

therefore, that each chain 23 extends across the tread in a diagonal direction and lies within the space 21. Primarily the direct initial contact between the armor and the roadway is borne or received by the heads armor is borne directly by the chains or stay means.

The stay means acts immediately as a binder for securing the band structure upon the tire, and since the stay means is calculated to resist a maximum amount of tensile strain it follows that a tire thus protected will withstand an unusually great bursting strain. The tabs 17, as well as the tread body 16, serve to prevent -any ossibility of the chain members cutting or amaging the pneumatic tire in practice. With reference now to the lfunction of the stay-means to -preventing twisting of the band portion or displacement thereof laterally around the tire it will be noted that each chain 22 is disposed directly in transverse circumferential alinement with the altitude of that plate 18 whose apex is located directly in the crotch formed by the junction of thetwo diagonal chains 23 connected to said chain 22. From this fact it follows that the portion of the band structure represented by said plate can not creep toward the chain 22 just referred to. This description obviously applies to each chain 22 and the plate directly opposite the same.

An armor such as disclosedherein is of relatively simple construction, but of unusually strong and effective nature for a tread covering and tire protector. It may be secured easily and quickly in place upon f the tire when the latter is deflated inasmuch as the clips 24 may at such time be easily forced or slipped betweenthe beads of the tire and the inner surfaces of the rim anges. When the tire is inflated again the clips are positively held from separation from the flanges, hence the protector is secured reliably in place. Inmy experience I have proved that an armor made in accordance with this invention will add more than double to the average life of a tire, and as compared with standard pneumatic tires the price may be xed attvery much less.

From the drawings it will vbe observed that the tread plates 18 are relatively narrow and hence provide a small 0r narrow accenno tread portion, the direct result of whichis to reduce tractive friction between the tire and roadway and yet with the rivets 20 provided with large cylindrical heads as indicated, the non-skid effect of my improved armor is unusually great. Furthermore while I provide the maximum degree of nonslipping or non-skidding action the danger of damage to the city street or pavement is not excessive. I wish to observe also in this connection that inasmuch as the immediate tractive 4effect is borne by the plates and their rivets in some cases as for example in connection with motorcycles or other light vehicles, it is not necessary to employ the metallic stay means in order to insure sufficient strength or non-skid qualifications. The tread plates 18 being of triangular form and spaced from one another act in themselves because of their form, as means preventing lateral movement or skidding of the vehicle. If the chains are not required in any particular structure for reasons just indicated, the armor may be secured to the rim 12 by means of the anchor members 24 being secured directly to the tabs 17 as suggested in Fig. 6.

My improvement in any of its forms is of relatively light structure, adding little to the weight of the wheel equipment. It is to be noted furthermore that the circumferential spaces provided between the tabs 17 provide clearance for bulging of the tire due to the expansive action of heat on the air therein and also these clearance spaces insure a cooler effect than would be true in cases where the tire is protected by an armor Without such spaces or openings.

l( claim:

1. A tire armor compris' a circumferential tread body, a circum erential series of strong projections in spaced relation, a.`

tab extending from the edge of the body opposite every projection, and transverse sta means comprising chains lying between a jacent projections and other chains connected with the rst chains and lying ,against the outer surfaces of the tabs.

2. A tire armor comprising `an endless circumferential tread body, a circumferential series of plates secured to the outer surface of the body in spaced relation to one another throughout the series, a flexible tab projecting laterally from the body in transverse alinement with each plate, and transverse stay means extendin across the body and including three dem? le members for each titl) ments lying in the spaces between the plates and a third chain element having its ends connected to said two chain elements and 1ying against and secured to the tabs.

4. A tire armor comprising an endless band structure having tabs at its edges, the tabs at one edge being staggered with respect to the tabs at the other edge, and provided with a series of spaced triangular plates, the apex of one plate lying in circumferential alinelnent with the base of the next adjacent plate and each with its apex opposite a tab, transverse stay means comprising a plurality of connected chain elements, some chain elements extending diagonally across the band in the spaces between adjacent plates, and` other chain elements lying in radial planes at the sides of the band member, each side chain element being connected at its outer end to two of the diagonal elements and to the tabs.

5. The herein described tire armor comprising a Hexible band structure having a plurality of tabs along each side thereof, each tab being slitted circumferentially of the wheel forming a keeper, and transverse iexible stay means extending across the outer surface of the band member and having portions extending'v along the outer surfaces of the tabs and through the keepers formed thereon.

6. The herein described tire armor conmprising a exible imperforate band structure having a'plurality of tabs along the sides thereof, means coperating with the band and tabs to lock the band in place over the tread portion of a tire, a series of transversely arranged spaced triangular tread plates, each two adjacent plates being re versely tapered, and a plurality of cylindrical headed rivets securing each plate in place, said rivets serving to take the tractive action.

SAMPSON GRANWLLE 3MTM.

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